


Across the Stars

by Starlight_dreaming



Series: Tales of Jacen Syndulla [1]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Jedi Temple magic, One Shot, The Force and whatnot, time travel but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 12:04:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16516127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlight_dreaming/pseuds/Starlight_dreaming
Summary: A boy from the past meets a boy from the future.a.k.a Because I refuse to believe that Kanan never met Jacen at some point.





	Across the Stars

_Caleb..._

Caleb whirled around, but there was nothing except for the pitch black darkness that surrounded him. It was so dark he couldn't even make out his fingers if they were right in front of his face. He strained his ears, listening, but all he heard was the wind and the sound of water droplets hitting stone. He swallowed, hand instinctively reaching for his non-existent lightsaber. 

This wasn't his first time earning a kyber crystal, but this time it was different from the last. He stepped forward warily, trying to sense feel his way through the darkness. 

_Run!_

Caleb nearly leapt out of his skin when he heard his Master's voice. His feet hit something hard on the uneven ground and he stumbled, tripping over his feet. He gritted his teeth, he still couldn't see. 

Why was it so dark? 

It was as if he were blinded. 

Fear gripped him, a fear so terrible it shooked him to the bone. He wasn't normally bothered by the dark, but the darkness around him felt different, sinister, as if there was something else lurking in the shadows, watching him. He didn't understand, but he knew he was afraid. 

_Kanan..._

A voice pierced through the haze of terror. The voice was female, familiar yet not. He didn't recognize the name, but the voice that had spoken it was beautiful, possibly the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. "Hello?" Caleb called out tentatively, his voice shaky and unsure, "Is anyone there?" 

Other voice answered him, ones he didn't recognize, overlapping each other, till he couldn't comprehend what they were saying. 

_Yes, Master..._

_Karabast! There's too many!_

_There are things far worst than death..._

_... Just like how I don't need you._

_Ahsoka!_

_I left to save everyone!_

_I can't see anything._

_You could always see me..._

The last voice was the beautiful voice he heard, before the voices faded. Caleb got to his feet, struggling to regain his bearings. He swallowed, forcing his breaths to even out. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes calming his racing heart. Slowly but surely he felt the Force return to him, gathering around him. 

He would get through this. 

Suddenly he wasn't afraid anymore. He felt the Force, listened to it, keeping his eyes tight shut. And then he felt it, a barely noticeable tug in the Force, towards his right. He took a wary step in the direction the Force lead him, and it tugged at him once again. 

Step by step the Force guided him through the darkness. He didn't know how much time had passed, it could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. But the Force finally stopped leading him along. Slowly Caleb opened his eyes. 

He found himself standing in a circle of pale blue light. All around him was an endless stretch of darkness. But the darkness was flecked with the glow of silver stars like the night sky. It was as if he were standing in space. It was beautiful. He felt peace and calm wash over him like a wave.

"Hello?" 

Caleb looked forward and saw another circle of light directly in front of him, only a few meters away. In it stood a boy around the same age as he was. The boy wore a dark pilot's jacket with fiery orange streaks, over a green shirt, brown trousers and black boots. He had brilliant blue eyes, tan skin and his hair was a strange shade of moss green, long enough that it ended just before his shoulders and was tied up in a half ponytail. 

Caleb couldn't tell what species he was. He looked human, but then Caleb caught sight of his ears, which were slightly pointed and his skin which was tinted with a barely noticeable green hue here and there. All and all he looked like a trainee pilot of some kind, there was a symbol Caleb didn't recognize on his right sleeve, that reminded him of a starbird. 

"Who are you?" Caleb asked without thinking seeing that it was the first question that came to his mind. He tried to step forward, but found an invisible barrier smack in front of his face. "Ow," Caleb complained rubbing his face. 

"You alright?" The boy called from his ring of light, "I'm Jacen," he said after a short hesitation. He ran a hand subconsciously over his head, "Who are you and what are you doing here? Are you supposed to be part of my trials?" 

"What?" Caleb stared at him in confusion, "I'm Caleb," he said, "I'm only a padawan, I'm here to earn a kyber crystal for my lightsaber." 

Jacen's clear blue eyes widened in shock, "You're a Jedi too?" He looked utterly stunned.

"Uh... Yeah," Caleb stretched the back of his head, "I take it you are too?" 

"Yeah," Jacen nodded, "I came here with my crèche mates. They are twelve of us but we got separated. Our Master sent us here to find our kyber crystals," he explained.

Caleb frowned, "That's strange," he said, "I could have sworn my Master and I were the only ones here." 

Jacen mirrored his frown, "Who's your Master?" He asked, "Master Luke is the only Jedi Master there is so far." 

Caleb's frown deepened, "What are you taking about?" He asked, "There are thousands of Jedi Masters at the Temple." 

"No..." The other boy looked just as confused as Caleb felt, "From where I come from there's only twelve of us and..." Jacen abruptly went silent, realization dawning on his face. 

"What?"

The green haired boy stared at him with a mix of shock, awe and horror on his face. "Wait... your name is Caleb..? You're-" He abruptly cut himself off mid sentence, "We're from different times," he said. 

Caleb wrinkled his nose, "What?" 

"You're from the past... Well technically your present is my past and my present..." 

"Is my future," Caleb finished. 

Jacen nodded, "No wonder you're wearing weird clothes," he mumbled. "What are you wearing by the way?" He asked, as if that were a pressing matter at the time. 

Jacen glanced down at his robes and frowned looking up, "The real question is what are _you_ wearing?" He said, "What kind of Jedi wears a mercenary's outfit?" 

"Hey!" Jacen crossed his arms, looking mildly offended, "I'm part of the New Republic Starfleet! I'll be a great pilot some day, just like my mom," he said proudly. 

Caleb literally understood none of what the other boy said. "I thought you were a Jedi," he asked, "Jedi are peacekeepers, not generals, unless there's a war like now." 

Jacen shrugged, "I'm a recruit in the flight Academy when I'm not doing my Jedi training," he explained, "I can be a pilot like my mom and a Jedi Knight like my dad as well." 

Caleb's eyebrows shot up, "Your _dad_ , is a Jedi?" Jacen nodded, "Yeah, why?" Caleb frowned, "Jedi have no attachments, that includes... uh... romantic attachments." Jacen made a face, "That's a weird rule," he said, "That's not what it's like in the future." 

Caleb snorted. He wondered what had become of the Jedi Order in Jacen's time. "But then again I never knew my dad," Jacen explained with a lopsided grin, "He died before I was born. Maybe he did break a few rules." 

Caleb sighed, shaking his head. He looked around them, "Why did the Force bring us here?" He asked, "A Jedi from the future and a Jedi from the past?" Jacen's grin faded. He uncrossed his arms, "My Master says that the Force works in mysterious ways," he said, tilting his head to look at the star flecked void all around them, "Maybe we're supposed to help each other find our crystals?" He suggested sounding unsure. 

Caleb shrugged, "Worth a shot I guess," he glancd around, "But how?" Jacen glanced at him and pointed upwards, "Maybe we have to choose the right one." Caleb glanced up, and abruptly realized what he had mistaken for stars, weren't exactly stars at all. 

They were kyber crystals. 

Thousands of them. 

An uneasy laugh escaped his lips, "That's a lot of kyber crystals," he said. Jacen sighed, and sat down in his circle of light, "No time like the present," he crossed his legs, "We came this far." Caleb nodded and mirrors his cross legged pose. Even as a hundred questions filled his mind, he kept them quiet and stated, "There's no way I'm turning back now." Jacen nodded in agreement, his blue eyes determined. 

They closed their eyes. Caleb focused on the Force around him, like how he did when he couldn't see. He felt Jacen's presence in the Force, similar to all Jedi's but different, strange and new, unlike anything he ever sensed before. His signature in the Force was strange as well, familiar, it took Caleb a moment to realize it was very similar to his own, different but undeniable similar. 

Caleb returned his focus to the Force. This place, wherever it was, was overflowing with the Force. He sensed each individual kyber crystal, each one different, each one as special as the Jedi destined for it. 

But none of them for him. Instead he felt one calling to him, yet he knew it wasn't meant to be his. Nevertheless he stretched out a hand, palm facing upwards, and tugged it towards him. The crystal obeyed. 

Caleb opened his eyes and saw a pale purple kyber crystal hovering above his hand. He glanced over at Jacen and saw him holding a similar shocking blue crystal in his hand. He held out his hand and grinned, "I think I found yours," he said. Caleb smiled, and held out his palm, "So did I." 

The crystals drifted out of their hands, exchanging themselves and returning to their rightful owners. Caleb closed his fingers around his crystal and stood up. He saw Jacen do the same. "Thanks for your help," Caleb said. Jacen grinned, "Same to you," he said. Caleb once again felt his strange signature in the Force. 

A small nagging suspicion rose at the back of his mind. Impossible as it was. 

"Who exactly are you Jacen?" Caleb asked even as the twin rings of light around them flarred up with a brilliant white light, "You said you're father was a Jedi," he said, "What was his name?" The void began to fade around him, taking Jacen with it. 

The green haired boy smiled as he faded away, blue eyes sad, "His name was Caleb Dume," he said. His smile was sorrowful, "He was the bravest Jedi in the galaxy. I never thought... I never thought I'd get to meet him." 

He grinned, a familiar twist of his lips. How many time had Caleb seen that smile when he looked at himself in the mirror?

Jacen smiled, closing his eyes, "It was great to finally meet you... Dad."

_What?_

"Wait!" Caleb stepped forward, but the ring of light around him flared up even brighter. By the time the blinding light had died down, the boy was already gone. Caleb glanced around, and found himself standing alone exactly where he had started, in the main atrium of the Ilum Jedi Temple. 

Caleb glanced down, uncurling his fingers and found the blue cyber crystal sitting in his palm. The only proof he had that none of it was a mere dream. He swallowed, tilting his head up to look at the high ceilings, covered with ice and snow. 

He could have sworn he heard a vaguely familiar laugh, or perhaps it was just the whispers of the bitter cold wind and the chiming of icicles. 

Not wanting to be there any more than he had to, Caleb gripped his kyber crystal and turned, running out the room as fast as he could. He darted out of the entrance, just before the freeze reached the ground and found his Master waiting for him, seated on the ground exactly where she had been before. He had never been so glad to she her. 

His Master smiled, when she saw him, "Caleb." 

"Master!" He ran straight to her side. Master Billaba smiled, "I see you got your crystal," she said. Caleb nodded, smiling proudly as he opened his palm to show her the blue crystal. 

Master Billaba nodded, "Good," she said, standing up, "In sure you have many questions." Caleb nodded furiously and Master Billaba chuckled, smiling down at him fondly, "You can ask them on our way back," she said, turning away, "Let's go home." 

Caleb glanced over his shoulder, towards the now frozen entrance that lead to the crystal caves. Was it his imagination or did he see a silhouette of a boy behind the wall of ice? 

"Caleb?" His Master called and he snapped out of it, "Coming," he said, hurrying after her. 

The thought of the future scared him, but he decided that he would not think about it. Not now, not ever. The Force was never easy to understand, and the future was always in motion as Master Billaba had taught him. He would keep doing what he was doing and let the future work itself out. 

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about the green haired boy with that lopsided smile and bright eyes identical to his own.

**Author's Note:**

> I might try to make a series centered around Jacen out of this. What do you guys think? I live for feedback.


End file.
